Yes, it is early, but it may be easy to predict.
With the New Orleans Saints doing so much work on their roster, there are going to be major upgrades, and the team should take a step forward. Last season was not the worst season ever, but it was not great. Yes, it was the perfect start to rebuild, but the clock has started for the Saints, and now they need to improve in 2026. This is why the team needed to do as much work as possible to get better for next season, but that does not mean everything is fixed.
There was a clear focus from the Saints to fix the offense, and it makes sense why. QB Tyler Shough is going into his second year, and we have seen how much a sophomore slump can destroy momentum for a franchise. Just like with the entire team, Shough also needs to take another step forward and show that he can be the franchise QB in New Orleans. But that has put the defense on the back burner.
Free agency and the NFL Draft were very similar for the Saints. In both events, New Orleans invested heavily in the offense and made some key defensive pickups. The issue was that the defense overperformed last season, and important players are no longer on the team. The Saints have done a good job getting players to potentially fill those spots, but the future is too uncertain to make anyone feel comfortable about those same positions. This is where we can guess what future positions the Saints may need to fix in the 2027 offseason.
Looking at the roster and all the work that was done this offseason, the pass rushers and cornerbacks stick out as future positions of need. The Saints have been able to acquire players such as OLB Anfernee Jennings, EDGE Tyree Wilson, CB Martin Emerson Jr., EDGE Michael Heldman, and CB TJ Hall to help fill those positions of need. The issue is that we do not know how any of the players will perform for the Saints this offseason because it's a bit more of a quantity-over-quality approach right now.
Also, specifically the CB group, there were already question marks surrounding the play of the two starters: Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley. This is not the case for the pass rushers, given that Chase Young is the top guy, so CB might end up being the clear top issue that plagues New Orleans this offseason.